[TNG] Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Tapestry"
Timothy W. Lynch
"Tapestry", TNG's latest offering. Those not interested in reading said
spoilers had better get off now.
Wow. Best damned Q storyline I've seen in four years.
Yes, that takes us all the way back to "Q Who", when once again Q used simple
techniques to send Picard one hell of a message. Guess what, folks -- he did
it again, and most interestingly to boot. More later, after this lengthy
synopsis:
Sickbay is in chaos, as a critically injured Jean-Luc Picard is beamed
aboard. After being shot at close range with an energy weapon, Picard's
artificial heart has malfunctioned, and he is dying on the surgical table.
His vital signs begin to fade even further...
...and Picard looks around himself into a gulf of impenetrable whiteness. He
sees nothing for a few moments, and then sees an angelic figure approaching
him, shrouded in light. He takes this "angel's" hand, and the angel becomes
more recognizable:
"Welcome to the afterlife, Jean-Luc," says Q. "You're *dead*."
Picard scoffs at the notion that he is dead, and even more so at Q's claim of
being God. "I refuse to believe that the afterlife is run by _you_ -- the
universe is not so badly designed!" Q, persistent, brings other evidence to
bear, and Picard sees and hears his late father scold him for coming to a bad
end with Starfleet: "Dead ... *before* your time." Maurice Picard fades,
but Q then calls up the voices of Picard's "victims" -- the many people who
have died over the years through Picard acting or failing to act.
He offers Picard a chance to express regrets for a "sordid" past, but Picard
says that if he really is dead, "My only regret is dying and finding you
here!" Q, acting hurt, points out that he was not the cause of Picard's
death -- Picard's artificial heart was. When asked how he lost his real
heart, however, Picard only mutters that it was a mistake from his youth.
Q quickly pounces on this regret and displays the event to Picard, who sees
his young and cocky self get stabbed through the heart by an angry Nausicaan.
Agreeing with Q that the fight wasn't smart, he claims to have been a
different man then. "Arrogant, undisciplined, with far too much ego and far
too little wisdom. I was much more like *you*." Picard continues on,
regretting that he hadn't learned responsibility until after being stabbed
through the back, and notes that if he'd been more responsible then he'd have
a real heart and wouldn't have died when he did.
"So if you had to do it all over again?"
"Things would be different."
Suddenly, Picard is slapped by a young woman, and finds himself back in a
very old uniform surrounded by two of his old Academy friends, Corey and
Marta, looking as young as they did after graduation. He turns down their
invitation to join them for a bite to eat, saying he'll catch up with them
later. They leave, remarking that "Johnny"'s just marking time until another
date.
"Captain" Q arrives, telling Picard that he's got his second chance -- he is
now back at the ripe young age of 21, fresh out of the Academy, and ready to
change a few things about his past. Picard initially objects, saying that
changing history could have horrible results, but Q scoffs at that. "Nothing
you do here will cause the Federation to collapse or galaxies to explode. To
be blunt, you're not that important." When even that fails to get Picard
moving, Q gives him his word that the only changes occurring as a result of
this will be to Picard.
Q tells Picard that he has two days until the encounter with the Nausicaans
that robbed him of his heart. If he can change enough by then to avoid
getting stabbed, then he'll be back in the "present" with a real heart.
"Then I won't die?" "Of course you'll _die_ -- it'll just be at a later
time." If he doesn't avoid getting stabbed, the two of them get to spend
eternity together. This, if nothing else, goads Picard to action -- but at
the moment, the "action" expected by history is that he keep his date with a
young woman named Penny...
Penny, however, is not impressed by this quieter, less hormonal, more
"contemplative" Picard, and when Picard turns down some rather blatant
romantic offers, she throws a drink on him for insulting her and leaves.
After a quick exchange with Q, Picard turns his attentions to his friends'
activities. Corey is having fun playing a billiards-like game called
"damjat", and winning handily. He defeats his current opponent, and leaves
the table to relax -- but then, a Nausicaan walks in and challenges him to a
game.
Picard tries to convince Corey that the game is a big mistake, but Corey
dismisses it as paranoia and plays. While he plays, Picard tells Q of what
is to come if nothing changes. Corey will lose, and realize later that the
Nausicaan cheated. He will want revenge, and enlist Jean-Luc's help in
rigging the table later to turn the situation around. It will provoke the
Nausicaan and indirectly start the fight.
Sure enough, very quickly the Nausicaan wins, gloating all the while. That
evening, Corey comes to the correct conclusion that the Nausicaan used a
magnetic device to alter the path of the balls, and suggests rigging the
table to make it backfire. Picard, however, insists that that will solve
nothing, and possibly just make things worse. Corey is stunned by Picard's
refusal ("When did you start backing away from a good fight?"), and stalks
out when Marta agrees that forgetting about it may be the best choice. Marta
says she's impressed with Picard's new responsibility, that she believes
comes from the new Ensign's bars they both wear. When Picard remarks that
the rank will take some getting used to, she voices regret that they can't
get used to it together, adding after a brief pause "...the three of us, I
mean."
Suddenly, Q comes in carrying flowers for a "John Luck Pickerd", and Marta,
assuming they're from one of Picard's recent "conquests", makes a hasty exit.
After a quick observation that Picard's relationship with Marta might *also*
be changed this time around, Q tells Picard that Corey is at this very moment
rigging the table.
In very short order, Picard finds Corey and startles him. Corey is initially
glad to see him there, but that turns into shock when he sees that Picard is
there not to help, but to talk Corey out of this course of action. Picard
refuses to go so far as to fight Corey about it, but he says he'll tell the
gambling foreman about the table. Corey bristles, and bids a cold farewell
to "Ensign Picard."
Later, Picard complains about Corey's reaction to Marta, who reassures him
that he'll get over it. The conversation again turns to how different Picard
seems, and how attractive she finds it. Picard admits that he's thought many
times about the two of them getting involved. "Why didn't you ever say
anything?" "At this moment ... I really have no idea why not." They fall
together...
The next morning, Picard wakes up naked in bed -- with Q lying next to him.
"Morning, darling." After Q riles him about his now-abandoned "just friends"
claim about Marta, Picard meets Marta for breakfast. Unfortunately, he soon
finds that she feels they've ruined their friendship with their rash acts,
and that she very much regrets what has occurred. After promising to see him
one last time at the trio's final get-together in the evening, she leaves.
Q smirks. "Well, let's see -- so far you've managed to get slapped by one
woman, a drink thrown in your face by another, and alienate your two best
friends. You're doing pretty well so far -- the only thing left to avoid is
getting stabbed through the heart!"
That evening, a very tense dinner is made still more tense when the
Nausicaans enter and challenge Corey to damjat once again. Picard claims
they're not interested, and physically prevents Corey from attacking them
even after the Nausicaans insult Starfleet and make lewd remarks about Marta.
The Nausicaans laugh and leave, but Corey has other ideas. He tells Picard,
"I don't know who you are any more, but you're not my friend." Marta leaves
with Corey after a brief "Goodbye, Johnny."
Q, however, congratulates Picard -- he's survived. Picard finds himself back
on the Enterprise, hale and hearty -- but dressed in a blue uniform, and
holding the rank of Lieutenant j.g. in astrophysics. Picard finds that the
captain of the ship is now one Thomas Halliway, and heads to sickbay.
When he arrives, he finds Q waiting for him. "Vell, vell, vell -- vot seems
to be ze trouble, Loytenant Picard?" He assures Picard that, true to Q's
word, nothing *has* changed except for him. He is now the product of his
"new" youth -- safe and sound, making tests and analyzing data, "and
delivering reports to your superiors."
Picard hastens to Ten-Forward and speaks with Riker and Troi about his past
and future career. Both say he's a very good, very ... _competent_ ...
officer, but add that he's never been willing to take the chances necessary
to reach his always-lofty goals. Riker, however, says he'll see what he can
do to move Picard into engineering or security, and that "we'll see" about
command. Riker and Troi are called away to a bridge officers' meeting,
leaving Picard to stew over his fate until Geordi summons him, wanting the
very report he's been carrying for quite some time.
In the turbolift, Picard complains bitterly about his fate to the
presumably-listening Q. When the lift opens, however, it opens back onto the
white "afterlife", with the angelically garbed Q waiting and wondering why
Picard can complain about having gotten a second chance.
"I can't live out my days as that person! That man is bereft of passion ...
and imagination! That is not who I am!"
Q, however, points out that it's the product of the youth Picard _wanted_ to
have. This Picard is less arrogant, less undisciplined -- "The one who was
less like *me*." This Picard never had a brush with death to add focus to
his life, and always drifted from one job to the next -- never standing out,
and always playing it safe. Picard admits that the changes he wanted to make
were a mistake.
"Are you asking me for something, Jean-Luc?"
"Give me the chance to put things back the way they were before."
"Before, you died in sickbay. Is that what you want?"
Picard doesn't hesitate. "I would rather die as the man I was than live the
life I just saw."
Q moves toward Picard --
-- who finds himself back in the bar in the middle of the confrontation with
the Nausicaans. This time, however, when he's called a coward, Picard
fights, and fights hard. Corey and Marta are removed from the fight quickly,
but Picard manages to knock out two of the three Nausicaans. The third,
however, grabs him and impales him through the back. Picard falls to his
knees, sees the blade, and laughs...
...and is still laughing when he wakes in sickbay, alive.
Some time later, Picard and Riker discuss Picard's experiences. Neither is
quite sure whether they were real or a near-death hallucination, but Picard
notes that if it *was* real, he owes Q his gratitude for showing him just how
essential those "unsavory" parts of his life were in forming the complete man
he now is.
Whew. After that, I'm not sure I have the strength to actually write some
*commentary* ... but I'll do my best.
I said earlier this season that "True Q" did a lot to put Q "back on form" as
"the sardonic, Machiavellian trickster who doesn't much care who gets in the
way of his aims." That side of Q was, indeed, a crucial part of him that had
been neglected since "Q Who". However, what was left *out* of "True Q" that
hadn't become fully apparent to me until now was that Q also serves as a
powerful goad for Picard's actions and his very thoughts at times. I think
it's very arguable that Q intended primarily to provoke Picard in "Q Who" and
bits of "Deja Q", and that must have been the (unfulfilled, in my view) plan
behind "Qpid". "Tapestry" could be considered as taking the Q-as-goad theme
to its logical conclusion.
And goad he did. Q managed here to make Picard lose the most composure I
think I've ever seen the character lose. (Death does seem to have that
effect on people...) While Picard put up a reasonably good front of not
caring about Q or about his new situation, it was very clearly just that -- a
front. The Picard we saw responding to his father's condemnation was not a
man in control of the situation, and the Lieutenant (pardon me, "Loytenant"
:-) ) Picard we saw near the close of the show was a man rapidly becoming as
defeated and nondescript as the man we were told he had already become. This
Picard was forced by circumstances to be more on-edge and reserveless than
he's ever been, and it worked like a charm.
The message sent by the show (basically "don't reject the skeletons in your
closet, they're a big part of you") was a simple one, but by the same token
one that probably rang true for nearly everyone watching. I certainly found
myself thinking back to a few incidents from my "misspent youth" that I've
occasionally thought would be better off changed or deleted, and I'll wager
most of you reading this did as well.
The particular incident chosen (and the bits of it we saw) was nicely
selected, and fit very well with the stories of it we've already heard. The
laughter, in particular, was probably the best recurring image we've seen
since the breaking of the glass in "Cause and Effect", and occurred for many
different reasons. When we were first told of it ages ago, Picard said he
laughed out of shock; here, it's because he was a cocky young man; and in the
end, it's because he knows he's saved his past/future. The final laugh had
almost as much power to it as Stewart's laugh as Scrooge towards the very end
of his one-man "A Christmas Carol", and that's no small feat.
Ned Vaughn and J.C. Brandy (Corey and Marta, respectively) were extremely
well cast as Picard's old friends. Corey seemed a perfect partner to the
cocky youth Picard was *supposed* to be, and Marta was just responsible
enough to keep either one from getting killed. Both did a good job of looking
and acting like recent Academy graduates (whatever they're supposed to look
like :-) ), and of relating very well to their best friend suddenly turning
into a stranger. Corey's pair of lines about "you sound like my mother" and
"you ARE my mother!" to Picard rang extremely true to me, for example.
Speaking of casting, bravo to whoever found Clive Church to play Maurice
Picard. It seems that Picard's brother Robert not only takes after his
father spiritually, but also carries the strong physical resemblance.
Maurice *looked* like I'd always pictured him -- how'd they do that? :-)
Picard's affair with Marta was interesting, not only in its consequences but
in its origins. I think it's arguable that Picard may not have intended such
a change to his past at all, but that the frustration he had with being
unable to get Corey to act responsibly came to a head and made him decide
that at least he'd change _this_ and see what happened. I'm not suggesting
in any way that this was a conscious decision, but I think it's a strong
possibility. (The aftermath of their one night together rang very true as
well.)
But throughout it all, we had Q -- not only as an amused observer and a goad,
but as a *guide*. Picard wouldn't have *known* how to change anything
without Q's help in certain spots (warning him about Corey rigging the table
is the strongest example), and might have made even more of a mess of
everything than he did. While Q clearly had the time of his life here (at
least verbally; some of his comments had me rolling), he also did appear
to have some genuine concern here for Picard (despite the threat to spend
eternity with him :-) ). It was intriguing, whatever else it was.
I don't really know exactly what there is to say about the show. It was
fairly simple, extremely well acted, and devastatingly effective -- like "The
Inner Light", it was human drama at its best. If we remove "Aquiel"
(please!), TNG has been really getting its wind back in 1993 ("Chain of
Command", "Ship in a Bottle", "Face of the Enemy", and now "Tapestry") -- I'm
overjoyed to see it.
Some short takes:
-- I wish we'd gotten to see the *rest* of the original situation Picard
found himself in. Back in "Samaritan Snare", Picard described the fight like
this: "So, I walked up to [the Nausicaan], and I told him what I thought of
him, his chums, his planet, and I may have mentioned something about his
rather...questionable...parentage..." I'd pay good money to see that. :-)
-- The 21-year-old Picard we saw here fits in appearance with the 12-year-old
one we saw in "Rascals". But when did he lose his hair?
-- There's a timing problem in here somewhere. Picard's 21 here, and he says
it was thirty years ago. That's no problem, except that by referring to his
class as the class of '27 [2327, presumably], the years don't work. *Forty*
years would be a lot closer to the mark, and 61 seems a somewhat reasonable
age for Picard. I wonder if the line was blown.
-- "To be blunt, you're *not that important*." What an ego-buster. :-)
-- Corey looked an awful lot like Nicholas Locarno to me. I wonder if
there's anything interesting we can glean from that...
-- I had a nasty suspicion that the result of Picard not getting stabbed
would be that Corey *would* -- but Q was, surprisingly enough, true to his
word.
That's about it. "Tapestry" was a terrific piece of work, and I give it my
strongest recommendation.
The numbers: all 10s. Save the reading space. :-)
NEXT WEEK:
Data and Worf attempt to locate the address to which they should send
Father's Day cards. This looks utterly bizarre.
Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
BITNET: tlynch@citjulie
INTERNET: tly...@juliet.caltech.edu
UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.ca...@hamlet.caltech.edu
"You are not God!"
"Blasphemy! You're lucky I don't cast you out, or smite you or something."
--
Copyright 1993, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
YAN...@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu
tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>
>Some time later, Picard and Riker discuss Picard's experiences. Neither is
>quite sure whether they were real or a near-death hallucination, but Picard
>notes that if it *was* real, he owes Q his gratitude for showing him just how
>essential those "unsavory" parts of his life were in forming the complete man
>he now is.
>
hallucination; if nothing else, it did not have Q in the title... :)
>The message sent by the show (basically "don't reject the skeletons in your
>closet, they're a big part of you") was a simple one, but by the same token
>one that probably rang true for nearly everyone watching. I certainly found
>myself thinking back to a few incidents from my "misspent youth" that I've
>occasionally thought would be better off changed or deleted, and I'll wager
>most of you reading this did as well.
*****************************************************************
"I think maybe the whole world's gone mad."
...Sexton Furnival
"Uh-Uh. It's always like this. You probably just don't get
out often enough." ...Death
Junsok Yang (YAN...@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu)
just another theatre geek
Ah....it looks like Tim and I will have some...discussion on
this episode.)albeit on e-mail in all likelihood).
I suspect what we saw was a watered down script...somewhare is a
script with all this PLUS an admission how Picard and Q are so alike,
the self-discovery is MUCH stronger and Picard doesn't act quite twit-like.
--
Roger Tang, gwan...@u.washington.edu, Producer Emeritus Asian Theatre at the UW
"David Henry Hwang's BONDAGE is about an Asian male attaining his fantasy: being
dominated and humilated by a Cucasian blonde. Sheer fantasy, of course; we all
know in real life it's the other way around."
Gerald W Katz
>Yes, that takes us all the way back to "Q Who", when once again Q used simple
>techniques to send Picard one hell of a message. Guess what, folks -- he did
>it again, and most interestingly to boot. More later, after this lengthy
>synopsis:
Yes, I have to admit, this was a very good Q episode.
I still don't like the Q character, but at least here
he was a supporting character but belonged there.
Similar to Troi in Face of the Enemy where for once
her empathic powers were used for good reasons.
Q was used well in this episode.
gkatz